hey guys welcome back to my channel
healthy adventurer if you're new to my
channel I love to talk about staying fit
being healthy traveling all while
working full time as a physician
assistant
today's topic is much requested of how
to get into PA physician assistant
school if you like this video be sure to
give me a thumbs up and share with all
your fellow future pre PA friends
getting into PA school today is no joke
I was applying to school about scary to
think about this maybe six years ago at
this point I'm nowadays or even while I
was applying I was competing against
thousands of applicants only a few
hundred get interviews and the average
program size anywhere from 20 to about
60 students some larger ones may have
about 100 so difficult so if you already
started applying to the dreaded
cumbersome caspo here are my top ten
tips to get you into PA school my first
one is if you are luckily still applying
to undergrad if you are totally positive
or have a high interest of being a PA
your best bet is to apply to an
accelerated five-year program there are
two ways to get into PA school one is if
you're applying to undergrad trying to
get into a 5-year program it's gonna be
a lot easier
mostly for these type of programs you
have to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA and
both the sciences and also your overall
GPA and you are guaranteed a spot in the
graduate portion typically a two-year
program so three years expedited to get
your bachelor's degree in to the floor
then guaranteed into the typical
two-year graduate program second way of
going to PA school have your bachelor's
degree some people go over the way some
people take time off to save up both are
perfectly fine just more difficult to
get into more people you are competing
against and sometimes a limited amount
of spots as well if they are a
grandfathered in those
from undergrad tip number two is to make
sure you have all your prerequisites now
applying to PA school is definitely like
ching ching it is expensive so you want
to make sure your application is
complete and one big thing people mess
up on is not having all your
prerequisites now when you're an
undergrad or if you're trying to get
your classes done be smart about the
classes you pick be smart about your
major you don't have to be a bile or
chemistry major is probably the easiest
way to get all your prerequisites for
most programs you generally need a year
chemistry a year of human anatomy your
biology a psych class a statistics class
medical terminology and some of them to
calculus those are generally the classes
you need someone else might need some
more prerequisites and others if you've
been working out of undergrad for quite
some time also look to see how far back
they take your credits some programs
don't take your classes if they're more
than ten years old some even as little
as three to five years so just be
careful of that a lot of programs
require you to take the GRE I personally
think it's a good idea I mean I dreaded
taking the GRE it's like SATs on
steroids but if you do take the GRE ease
it opens you up to a bigger pool of PA
programs that you can apply to if you
don't have all your prerequisites prior
to when the application cycle opens in
April don't fret just read the fine
lines every program again is different
some of them allow you to as long as
your classes are done by the time you
start or sometimes by that fall semester
the year before your program starts as
long as your class is done and you have
the minimum grade point average
typically of B then your tip number
three is to make your hands on
experience cap some programs need as
little as 250 hours more commonly these
days they require thousands of hours so
most of these applicants have or already
have been working in the medical field
most commonly ER strives is a great way
to get your experience
CNA EMT paramedic some things that also
look really good if you have the
opportunity to volunteer in the hospital
it shows that you're willing and
compassionate and willing to give up
your time to help others medical mission
trip if you have ability to do this it's
also a great and rewarding and likes
changing experience as well tip number
four is to make sure you have a
competitive GPA you need a minimum of a
3.0 not only overall but also in the
sciences too so if you do not meet this
minimum don't apply because they
automatically will throw up your
application if you don't meet this
minimum don't worry at all you can also
have the option to take post graduate
credits to boost up your GPA so don't
fret because you have a lower GPA
doesn't mean that you're gonna be not
considered or looked over it just means
that some other parts of your
application just have to be a little bit
stronger grades are not everything you
could have lower grades but if you have
an awesome personality people can see
that you can relate to others and have a
general desire and passion to help
others you are golden my friend my next
tip this is an important one too
unfortunately it's kind of a costly one
I would say as a general rule of thumb
try to apply to about seven to ten
schools you know sometimes you have a
number one program you really want to
get into that is fantastic or you just
want to stay close to home stay in-state
but if you apply the one there's two
schools that really narrows your chances
and it is a pain to do the process all
over again get letters or recs reapply
spend all that money for the next year
and in addition wait a whole year to do
lay starting PA school so I recommend
just in general applying to about seven
to ten schools that give you a good
range a number of options to work with
tip number six early bird gets the worm
I'm sorry it just had to say that
well the Cass bus starts and opens up in
April so it's best to send your
application in April I would say you
know
maybe a couple weeks before April reach
out to get your letters letters letters
letters of recommendation that's
probably gonna take the longest give
them a few weeks don't just give them a
day or two notice that's not very nice
everything else you know punching in the
numbers punching in your essay that you
can do on your own time but just be
ready to go right off the bat get your
transcripts ready beginning of April so
you can apply and be one of the first a
lot of schools they do rolling
admissions in which they look at
applications as they come in so if
you're one of the first applicants you
will be one of the first interviewers
hopefully this tip is a big one so
thousands of people are applying to PA
school how do you stand out probably the
most important part of your application
is the a site you want to make sure you
take a lot of time to nail this be true
be yourself don't make up some fake sob
story just really spend a lot of time of
that a good stellar strong application
with an awesome essay will get you the
interview which is probably in my
opinion the second most important part
of the application process so now we're
done with that application process you
got an interview congratulations that is
amazing you want to make sure you a sis
there are tons of practice questions
online I'm going to make a video on this
so look out for that be sure to practice
mock interviews make eye contact bring
pen and paper to write things down look
presentable if you ace the interview
that is golden my friend make your
presence known again how are they gonna
remember you out of thousands of people
be sure to keep in touch with admissions
officers be sure to tour their school so
they see your face it can put your face
to the name
be sure to follow up be sure to attend
the open houses just make your presence
known and make sure that they know you
are interested in their program some at
least don't forget to say two magical
words thank you
whether you had the opportunity to talk
to admissions counselor have an
interview meet
fellow-student be sure to write a
follow-up email thanking them for their
time and this leaves a lasting
impression for them I want to wish
everyone the best of luck applying if
you have any questions my emails below
I'm happy to answer any of our questions
or if you have any future content pa
lingo you want me to discuss let me know
see you guys next time